Sideshow History
by Jeanne Nixon

(Source: City Council Documents 2001 – 2007; available upon request)
Since 1988, Sideshows have plagued Oakland. During Sideshows, participants take over parking lots of shopping malls, convenience stores, gas stations, and major intersections where crowds gather to watch vehicles engage in exhibitions of speed, commonly referred to as “donuts”. Sideshows which have been glamorized in professional videos and on web sites such as UTube, have resulted in deaths, physical injuries, property damage, disruption of major traffic arteries affecting citizens, public transportation, and emergency services, litter, tagging, attacks on police officers and citizens by unruly crowds, and other criminal activity. Oakland has been identified as the “sideshow capital of America” (Dateline NBC). On weekend nights, Bancroft Avenue and Foothill Blvd. in Beat27X have been key areas for sideshow activity. Residents are plagued with screeching tires, loud music, gunfire, illegal and dangerous behavior, and cars driving recklessly through the surrounding residential neighborhoods throughout the night.
The demographics for sideshow participants have remained constant with one exception. Participants whom police have interviewed are employed men and women with an average age of 24 - 26. However, the percentage of non-residents participating grew to 38% in 2007. Up to 70% of cars towed in police operations are driven by unlicensed drivers and up to 75% of participants have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Firearms, stolen vehicles and illegal drugs are routinely recovered during Sideshow activities.

What’s Been Done

Police, citizens, other community agencies and municipalities, and the state have collaborated to identify, fund, and implement various solutions. Since 1988, efforts to address these problems have been focused in 3 general areas:

• Community Involvement
• Local Legislation
• Law Enforcement

Most Effective Legislation and Law Enforcement Tactics

Effective Legislation

• Parking Lot Closure Ordinance (#12390 C.M.S) – compels business to secure their parking lots one hour after closing
• State Legislation (Senate Bill 1489) – authorizing law enforcement to impound cars for 30-days when Sideshow participants are involved in certain acts of reckless driving and exhibitions of speed on both public and private properties
• State Legislation ((AB377) prohibiting “whistle tip” mufflers and requiring licensing of motorized scooters and pocket bikes which had been contributing to Sideshow problems.

Note: Ordinance # 12695 declaring sideshows a public nuisance, prohibiting the gathering of spectators, and providing for forfeiture of vehicles involved in Sideshows was passed in July 2005 and repealed in 2007 in response to a lawsuit challenging the Ordinance.

Effective Law Enforcement Tactics

• Towing cars used by participants “involved in a public offense” as described under California Vehicle Code Section 22655.5(a).
• Targeted Operations and “Late Tac Unit” to strictly enforce vehicle code regulations
• Multi-Agency Task Force involving the CHP and police from 7 neighboring cities – in 7 weeks, 205 arrests, 354 tows, 1334 citations
• In a 3 month-period, 1157 citations , 388 tows, 124 arrests, 19 DUI, 10 firearms and 12 stolen vehicles recoveries
• In 8 days during 2005, 431 citations, 167 tows, 72 arrests, 3 DUI, and 1 firearms recovery

Law Enforcement Tactics with Mixed Results

Traffic Construction – Driving cars onto I-880 and blocking freeway exits so Sideshow participants couldn’t return to Oakland residential areas; while this tactic was effective in moving Sideshow activity out of residential areas, it:

• Resulted in disruption for citizens not involved in the Sideshows
• Pushed the problem to neighboring communities

Created a conflict with CHP who started that the practice caused collisions “Saturation” Policing – putting a large number of officers into the Sideshow area to implement a minimum-tolerance approach to disruptive activities
Expensive
Some citizens complained of the “police state” type approach Results in relocation of police from other areas of the city at the expense of safety and security of those neighborhoods

Minimally Effective Law Enforcement Tactics

• Use of anti-cruising ordinances originally created to abate cruising around Lake Merritt – citation for drivers/passengers passing a checkpoint twice within 4 hours Labor intensive Difficult to implement across the large area affected by Sideshows Check Points – Driver’s License and Drunk Driver Checkpoints
• Labor Intensive
• Only effective in the immediate area of operation
• Checkpoints had to close early so officers could respond to Sideshow generated problems at locations away from the checkpoints. Traffic Constriction – Directing cars out of residential areas into industrial areas and I-880

Crowds and traffic problems got out of hand in industrial areas Participants got off the freeway at the next exit and returned to the neighborhoods

Ineffective Tactic: Traffic Engineering initiatives (e.g. bumps on street).

Considered But Not Implemented:

Creating an alternative venue such as the coliseum or drive-in movie theater near High/880 following the San Diego model. This was deemed not to be a viable alternative because of: Differences between the context of the San Diego program and the San Diego vs. Oakland Sideshow participant population and behavior Resistance of sideshow participants to any solutions that control or monitor them Conflicts with redevelopment plans.